blufive: (Default)
blufive ([personal profile] blufive) wrote2004-01-23 08:41 pm

Just Seen: Big Fish

IMDB
Edward Bloom, great teller of stories, is dying. His son Will hasn't spoken to him in years. Will has never really known his father, and resents the way he has always hidden behind his tall tales.

This is probably the most conventional film Tim Burton has made in years - maybe ever. Not that it's totally normal - Edward Bloom's stories about his life, depicted in flashback, are full of odd details.

The film tells its own story well, mostly thanks to the great cast. There are times when it threatens to drown in sentimentality, but Burton's surreal imagery just about pulls it back from the brink.

I enjoyed it.

Disappointed

[identity profile] swisstone.livejournal.com 2004-01-25 03:04 am (UTC)(link)
It's a lot better than the pile of shite that is Planet of the Apes. But it's a long way from being his best. It is tainted by a senitmentality that, say, Edward Scissorhands doesn't really have, and Ed Wood doesn't have at all. And I think that a lot of the things it tries to do are done better in other movies.